The Davis Center fosters connections by creating together and reaching out to the world. From coursework to original productions to international partnerships, the Davis Center stretches the typical boundaries of a Theater Program, especially an undergraduate one. Our alumni—like our faculty— live, work, study and create on a global scale, connecting and engaging with communities around the world.
For majors and minors in Theater & Performance Studies, our required courses embrace a global, pluralist viewpoint: Cross-Cultural Performance Studies, Improvisation for Social Change, and World Theater History.
Our annual seasons frequently feature plays and festivals that encourage students and audience members to look beyond our own borders. Our first season opened with a post-colonial classic set in Australia’s first penal colony, founded in the same year as Georgetown: Our Country’s Good by Timberlake Wertenbaker. An acclaimed British-Basque-American playwright, Wertenbaker served as artist-in-residence for the year, teaching, making and curating theater with us.
The Laboratory for Global Performance and Politics, launched in 2012 by co-Founding Directors Prof. Derek Goldman and Prof. Cynthia Schneider, furthers the global lens of our seasons. With a focus on humanizing politics and international relations through performance, “The Lab” is a unique partnership between Georgetown’s Walsh School of Foreign Service and the Department of Performing Arts.
Davis Center Alumni go global to say the least. Of those survey respondants, alumni live in 35 states, and 33 countries around the world.
Our Alumni’s work travels even farther – 77 total countries. Embracing dozens of cultures, our graduates do everything from stage international festivals to lead public health initiatives. On top of that, many of our alumni have had their scripts produced, curriculums adopted, or initiatives implemented from Argentina to Zimbabwe.
“[Seeing Black Watch from the National Theatre of Scotland] crystallized for me that it was possible to learn and work at the intersection of performance and politics, a unique opportunity that Georgetown could offer me. I declared Culture and Politics as my major the following semester, concentrating on theatre and conflict studies. This was something I never could have imagined when I applied to the school, and all these years later I’m a professional devised theatre maker working in the UK”
Emma Clark (SFS’13)
See individual stories from alumni that embody our cross-cultural and Global value.
